Teochew cuisine, also known as Chiuchow cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine or Chaoshan cuisine, originated from the Chaoshan region in the east of Guangdong province, which includes the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang. Teochew cuisine bears more similarities to that of Fujian cuisine, with which it shares some dishes. This may be due to the similarity of Chaoshan's and Fujian's culture and language and to their geographic proximity.[1] However, Teochew cuisine is also influenced by Cantonese cuisine in its style and technique.[1]

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Teochew cuisine is particularly well known for its seafood and vegetarian dishes and is commonly regarded[by whom?] as being healthy. Its use of flavouring is much less heavy-handed than most other Chinese cuisines and depends much on the freshness and quality of the ingredients for taste and flavour. As a delicate cuisine, oil is not often used in large quantities and there is a relatively heavy emphasis on poaching, steaming and braising, as well as the common Chinese method of stir-frying. Chaozhou cuisine is also known for serving congee (Chinese: 潮州糜; pinyin: Cháozhōu mí; or mue), in addition to steamed rice or noodles with meals. The Teochew mue is rather different from the Cantonese counterpart. The former being very watery with the rice sitting loosely at the bottom of the bowl, while the latter is more a thin gruel.

Authentic Teochew restaurants serve very strong oolong tea called Tieguanyin in very tiny cups before and after the meal. Presented as Gongfu cha, the tea has a thickly bittersweet taste, colloquially known as gam gam (Chinese: 甘甘; pinyin: gān gān).

as a component for dipping sauces, for example as used in hot pot meals

In addition to soy sauce (widely used in all Chinese cuisines), diaspora Teochew cuisine, (mainly Teochews in IndoChina) uses fish sauce. It is used as a flavouring agent in soups and sometimes as a dipping sauce, as in Vietnamese spring rolls.

Teochew chefs often use a special stock called superior broth (simplified Chinese: 上汤; traditional Chinese: 上湯; pinyin: shàngtāng). This stock remains on the stove and is continuously replenished. Portrayed in popular media, some Hong Kong chefs allegedly use the same superior broth that is preserved for decades. This stock can as well be seen on Chaozhou TV's cooking programmes.

Teochew chefs take pride in their skills of vegetable carving, and carved vegetables are used as garnishes on cold dishes and on the banquet table.

Teochew cuisine is also known for a late night meal known as meh siao (Chinese: 夜宵; pinyin: yèxiāo) or da lang (Chinese: 打冷; pinyin: dǎléng) among the Cantonese. Teochew people enjoy eating out close to midnight in restaurants or at roadside food stalls. Some dai pai dong-like restaurants stay open till dawn.

Unlike the typical menu selections of many other Chinese cuisines, Teochew restaurant menus often have a dessert section.

Many people of Chaoshan origin, also known as Teochiu or Teochew people, have settled in Southeast Asia, especially Singapore, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand; influences they bring can be noted in the cuisine of Singapore and that of other settlements. A large number of Teochew people have also settled in Taiwan, evident in Taiwanese cuisine.[citation needed] Other notable Teochew diaspora communities are in Vietnam and France. There is also a large diaspora of Teochew people (most were from Southeast Asia) in the United States - particularly in the state of California. There is a Teochew Chinese Association in Paris called L'Amicale des Teochews en France.

A hearty soup that, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic), boiled together with pork bones for hours. Dark and light soy sauce may also be added to the soup during the cooking stages. Some Teochew families like to add extra Chinese herbs such as yu zhu (rhizome of Solomon's Seal) and ju zhi (buckthorn fruit) for a sweeter, slightly stronger flavoured soup. These herbs are known to improve health.[citation needed] The dish is usually eaten with rice or noodles (sometimes as a noodle soup), and often served with youtiao. Garnish includes chopped coriander or green onions and a sprinkling of fried shallots. A variation of "bak kut teh" uses chicken instead of pork, which then becomes "chik kut teh". "Bak kut teh" is particularly popular in South East Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia (famous in the town of Klang) where it was brought over with the Chinese diaspora.

A fresh (non-fried) spring roll usually eaten during the Qingming Festival. The skin is a soft, thin paper-like crepe made from wheat flour. The filling is mainly finely grated and steamed or stir-fried turnip, yam bean (jicama), which has been cooked with a combination of other ingredients such as bean sprouts, French beans, and lettuce leaves, depending on the individual vendor, along with grated carrots, slices of Chinese sausage, thinly sliced fried tofu, chopped peanuts or peanut powder, fried shallots, and shredded omelette. Other common variations of popiah include pork (lightly seasoned and stir-fried), shrimp or crab meat. It is eaten in accompaniment with a sweet sauce (often a bean sauce, a blended soy sauce or hoisin sauce or a shrimp paste sauce).

A dish where fresh, thinly sliced ingredients are placed into a simmering flavourful broth to cook and then dipped into various mixed sauces, usually with Shacha and soy sauce as its main components. Ingredients often include leafy vegetables, yam, tofu, pomfret and other seafood, beef balls, fish balls, pork balls, mushrooms and Chinese noodles, amongst others. Teochew hot pot, like other Chinese hot pots, is served in a large communal metal pot at the center of the dining table.

Mixed pork and prawn paste (sometimes fish), seasoned with five-spice powder, wrapped and rolled in a beancurd skin and deep-fried or pan-fried. It is sometimes referred to as Teochew-style spring roll in restaurant menus.

A raw fish salad where typical ingredients include: fresh salmon, white radish, carrot, red pepper (capsicum), ginger, kaffir lime leaves, Chinese parsley, chopped peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, Chinese shrimp crackers or fried dried shrimp and five spice powder, with the dressing primarily made from plum sauce. It is customarily served as an appetiser to raise 'good luck' for the new year and is usually eaten on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year. This delicacy is known to exist as far back as the Southern Song Dynasty,[citation needed] the original version consisting of a simple salad of raw and julienned vegetables, dressed in condiments. The modern version which is widely known today was developed by a chef in Lai Wah Restaurant in Singapore during the 1960s.[citation needed]

Teochew cold crab

潮州凍蟹

潮州冻蟹

Cháozhōu dòngxiè

Teochew ngang hoi

The whole crab is first steamed then served chilled. The species of crab most commonly used is Charybdis cruciata.

Fishballs / fishcakes / fish dumplings

魚丸 / 魚粿 / 魚餃

鱼丸 / 鱼粿 / 鱼饺

yúwán / yúguǒ / yújiǎo

her ee / her kueh / her kiaw

This fish paste made into balls, cakes and dumplings can be cooked in many ways but are often served in Teochew-style noodle and soups.

Fishball noodle soup

魚丸麵

鱼丸面

yúwán miàn

her ee mee

Any of several kinds of egg and rice noodles may be served either in a light fish-flavoured broth or dry, along with fishballs, fishcakes, beansprouts and lettuce.

A popular noodle dish served with minced pork, braised mushrooms, fishballs, dumplings, sauce and other garnish.

Bak chor mee

肉碎麵

肉碎面

ròusuì miàn

bak chor mee

Boiled noodles, dried and mixed with variety sauce such as soy sauce, chilli sauce and lard topped with vegetables, chopped onion, minced pork and mushroom, and fishballs or fishcakes.

Kueh chap

粿汁

粿汁

guǒzhī

kueh chap

A dish of flat, broad rice sheets in a soup made from dark soy sauce served with pig offal, braised duck meat, various kinds of beancurd, preserved salted vegetables and braised hard-boiled eggs.

Teochew rice noodle soup

潮州粿條

潮州粿条

Cháozhōu guǒtiáo

Teochew kuay teow

A quintessential Teochew-style noodle soup that is also particularly popular in Vietnam and Cambodia (known respectively as hu tieu and kuy teav), through the influx of Teochew immigrants. It is a dish of yellow egg noodles and thin rice noodles served in a delicate, fragrant soup with meatballs, other various meats, seafood (such as shrimp), fried fish cake slices, quail eggs, blanched Chinese cabbage and sometimes offal. The soup base is typically made of pork and/or chicken bones and dried squid. Just before serving, the noodle soup is garnished with fried minced garlic, fried shallots, thinly sliced scallions and fresh cilantro (coriander) sprigs. For those who enjoy their noodle soup with added depth, the solid ingredients may be dipped into Shacha sauce or Teochew chili oil.

A rice soup that has a more watery texture as compared to the Cantonese congee. It is commonly served with various salty accompaniments such as salted vegetables (kiam chai), preserved radish (chai por), boiled salted duck eggs, fried salted fish and fried peanuts.

Yam dessert

芋泥

芋泥

yùní

orh ni

Yams are steamed, mashed and then sweetened to form the dessert which resembles yam dough. It is often served with gingko seeds. This dessert contains fried onion oil to give it a nice fragrance.

A type of steamed dumplings. This is usually filled with dried radish, garlic chives, ground pork, dried shrimp, Shiitake mushrooms and peanuts. The dumpling wrapper is made from a mixture of flour or plant starches mixed together with water. In Cantonese, these are called chiu chow fun guo (Chinese: 潮州粉果; pinyin: Cháozhōu fěnguǒ), in which the Chinese character 餜 is replaced by 果.